


A Princess in Disguise - R&C Fanfiction (Chp.1)

by MikkiMouse256



Category: Ratchet & Clank
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, F/M, Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 13:52:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6959335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikkiMouse256/pseuds/MikkiMouse256
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ratchet and Clank get an unexpected visitor from Meridian City, a princess, who definitely does not act like it, and is in need of some assistance. Of course, what she needs help with is something Ratchet wouldn’t have guessed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Princess in Disguise - R&C Fanfiction (Chp.1)

“Ratchet?”

“Zzzzzz…”

“Ratchet!”

“Zzzzzz…”

“RATCHET!”

 

“Ah!” Ratchet’s eyes snapped open. He sat up too quickly, so he fell off the couch he was sitting on with a painful _thud._ He groaned loudly, his muscles aching from the sudden movement. “Aw man, that hurt…” He mumbled as he sat up, clutching his head which was pounding from making contact with the cold metal floor. Ratchet looked around the room, until his tired eyes landed upon a small robot standing not too away from him.

Clank.

“I apologise for interrupting your sleep cycle, but someone is outside the garage who requires assistance” He said, his bright green eyes glowing with a slight look of annoyance. Ratchet groaned. “We aren’t even open yet. What time is it anyway?”

“It is currently 5:30 in the morning”

Ratchet’s mouth dropped open. “5:30?! We don’t open till freakin’ 7:00!” He said, and he groaned again. There were two things that Ratchet hated. Being woken up while sleeping, and being woken up at bloody 5:30 am. Whoever this person was must have a death wish. “I am well aware of that Ratchet, but she sounds very distressed, I think we should let her in” Clank said in an impatient tone. Ratchet gave a look of surprise. “Wait, _she?_ You’re telling me, that there’s a girl outside of our garage at 5:30 _in the morning?”_ Ratchet found that really hard to believe. Every girl he knew never got up this early, so hearing Clank say that caught him off guard. “Yes, she.”

“Well, like I said, we aren’t open. So go tell her to come back later”

“I would Ratchet, but due to my height disadvantage, I cannot reach the voice receiver”

Ratchet sighed. He slowly stood up and stumbled over to the huge garage door. Attached to the wall was a small box with a button and a speaker. Before he pressed the button, he yawned, stretching his muscles. Suddenly, a static voice came through the speaker. “Hello? Is anyone there?” It was a female voice. ‘ _Woah, Clank wasn’t kidding’_ Ratchet thought. He pushed the button, and spoke through the speaker. “Yeah, Hi. Uh, you do know that we don’t open until 7:00 right?” He released the button and waited for a response. There was a few seconds of silence, then the girl replied.

“I know, and I’m really sorry for showing up at this time. But I need your help. It is really important so if you could just open the garage door-“

“Yeah, not gonna happen.” Ratchet had cut her off before she could finish. “Sorry, but like I said, we aren’t open. So you’re going to have to leave until we do”

“Please! You have to let me in, I’m begging you!” The girl pleaded. Ratchet groaned in annoyance. He didn’t have time for this. He just wanted to go back to sleep. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m not letting you in. So I think it’s best if you go now” He waited to see if the girl would reply. There was none. “Finally, looks like she got the message” Ratchet mumbled to himself. He was about to turn around, when he once again heard the girls voice through the speaker. “What if I told you that I was the princess of Meridian City?” The tone in the girl’s voice had changed, no longer the pleading, annoying tone that Ratchet had found extremely irritating. It was now a more… Intimidating, serious one. Of course, that didn’t stop Ratchet from laughing out loud at the thought of the girl being a _princess,_ let alone the princess of _Meridian City._ He pressed the button again on the receiver. “Yeah right! There’s no way that a princess would be here on Veldin at 5:30 in the morning. Nice try, but you’re not fooling me.” Ratchet chuckled to himself in disbelief. How stupid did this girl think he was? The girl spoke again, but this time, her words sent a chill down his spine. “Want a bet, _Ratchet?”_ That got his attention. Ratchet didn’t know how to respond, so the girl kept talking.

“That’s right, I know who you are. You are one of the Galactic Rangers who stopped Chairman Drek and Dr nefarious. Am I right?” The tone she was using so serious and… Well, a bit frightening. Ratchet tried to speak, but nothing came out. Clank had been listening to the entire conversation, so when he saw the effect this girl had on Ratchet, he couldn’t help but laugh at his friend. Ratchet replied to him with a whispered “shut up”, annoyed that Clank was making fun of him. The girl’s voice continued to resonate from the speaker. “I’ll take your silence as a yes. Now, listen to me very carefully. The entire fate of Meridian City depends on you. Why do you think I came here? I knew that the only person who could help me was you, and only you. If you do not help me, I will lose the throne to Meridian City, and I will lose the only family I have.” The last part of her sentence was said in such a soft voice, it was almost a whisper. Ratchet felt his heart skip a beat. Hearing her talk about her family, made him think about himself. He never had a family of his own, so he had no idea what it would be like to have one.

Or what it was like to lose one.

When Ratchet didn’t respond again, the girl spoke once more. “I will ask you one last time. Please, for the sake of Meridian City, for the sake of my family, open the garage door.” Ratchet stood there for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. She _sounded_ like she was the real deal, but he didn’t know if he could trust her. There was only one way to find out. Ratchet pushed the button for the receiver one last time. “Okay. Stand back while I open the door.” He walked over to where the lever for the garage door was, and placed his hand around it. He looked over his shoulder, where Clank had been standing during the whole conversation, looking for any sign of denial in his eyes. Clank simply nodded to him, showing that it was alright to go ahead with it. Ratchet looked back at the lever, took a deep breath, and pushed down hard. The lever moved downwards, and a green light bulb started flashing next to it, signalling that the door was going to open. Ratchet ran over to the couch where he had been sleeping, and picked up his omniwrench which he had left on the floor. “Ratchet? What are you-“Clank was cut off when Ratchet turned around and put a single finger to his own lips, shaking his head, telling him to be quiet.

Ratchet quickly ran back to the entrance of the garage, where the door had started to open slowly, making a low rumbling sound as it did so. Ratchet and Clank stood side by side in front of the entrance, Ratchet tightly gripping the wrench in his hand. If this was a trap, he had to be prepared for anything. As the door continued to rise, Ratchet started to see the figure that had been talking to him from the receiver. What he saw first was a light blue dress, one of those big poofy ones that girls wear to fancy parties. Next he saw the girls chest and neck (it’s not like he was _staring_ at her chest or anything), and noticed that she was wearing a turquoise oval shaped pendant. He had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn’t quite remember where from. Lastly, the girls face was revealed.

Ratchet almost peed his pants.

The face of the princess, _the_ princess, of Meridian City was staring back at him, with piercing blue eyes, and an irritated look on her face. Ratchet had never seen her up close before, mostly because the hundreds of people who would block his view whenever she and the queen would visit Veldin. But, now that he could see properly, he had to admit… She was quite beautiful. Although her eyes were giving him the “I told you so” look, they were a really pretty shade of blue. Her hair looked really nice too. It was long and black, and slightly wavy. But the one thing that stood out the most, was the silver jewel encrusted crown sitting neatly on top of her head. It seemed to sparkle, even though no light was hitting its surface. Ratchet realised that he was staring, and his brain was still in shock, so he said the only thing that he could managed to say. “Holy sh-“ He was cut off by Clank slapping him on the leg. “That is no way to talk to the princess!” He said annoyingly, his eyes narrowing. “I agree. You should watch that mouth of yours, it could get you in trouble one of these days” She said, walking into the garage. Ratchet was not sure, but it looked like she was making each step she took seem more menacing, her footsteps echoing on the metal surface. Ratchet’s heartrate was increasing rapidly, and it took all he had to stop himself from backing away from her. She kept her eyes locked on his, getting closer to the slightly afraid Lombax. She stopped walking. She was just a few inches from where he stood, her towering figure looming over him, making Ratchet feel extremely small. Well, she wasn’t _that_ tall, she was about the same height as Cora, but the way she looked down at him made her seem really tall. Plus, Ratchet tended to exaggerate things, so his brain was just making it more horrible than it actually was.

Then she bent down slightly, so that she was now eye level with him. Ratchet’s heart was practically beating out of his chest. She said nothing, she just stared at him, her expression unreadable. Ratchet didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t look away, and he was afraid that if he said something wrong, she would bite his head off. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, until Ratchet couldn’t take it anymore. “I-I’m sorry! I d-didn’t mean to a-almost swear at you! I-I was just s-surprised that you w-were the p-princess…” He blurted out. Most of his words had come out as stutters, so he sounded like a freaking idiot, not to mention he was very close to almost peeing his pants again. But then, her entire expression softened, and she smiled at him. “You know, no one has ever had the guts to “almost” swear whenever I’ve been around. They always act so nice to me, complimenting me and whatnot. But you, you’re different, I can tell.” Ratchet blinked a few times, unable to say anything. He heard a loud clattering sound, and when he looked down, he saw his omniwrench at his feet. He had forgotten that he had been holding it. The princess giggled, amused by Ratchet’s embarrassing attitude. She leaned back so that she was at her normal height again. “Sorry for scaring you like that, I tend to get carried away sometimes. Are you okay?” She asked, giving Ratchet a slight look of concern. “I’m-“ His voice came out as a high pitched squeak, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “I’m fine. So, uh, do we need to bow down to you or something?”

Ratchet felt Clank slap him on the leg again. “Ow! Hey, I was just asking a question!” Ratchet said, giving Clank an annoyed glare. The princess waved her hand dismissively. “Nah, bowing is overrated. I prefer to do the “casual” greeting.” With that she extended her hand out, waiting for Ratchet to take it. Ratchet hesitated for a moment, feeling a bit strange that he was about to shake the _princesses hand._ He always imagined that if he ever met someone who was royalty, he would have to bow and say “your highness” and stuff like that. But here he was, about to shake the hand of the princess. He slowly grabbed her hand with his own, and shook it briefly. The princess smiled warmly at Ratchet, and he smiled back. They finished shaking hands, and the princess kneeled down to shake hands with Clank. Of course, Clank still hadn’t grasped the concept that you had to _let go_ at some point, so he just kept shaking her hand, and eventually Ratchet had to pry their hands apart. She didn’t seem to mind though, in fact, she was laughing the whole time, which surprised Ratchet even more. Being a princess, he thought that she would have an “I’m better than everyone else” attitude, but she didn’t have that kind of vibe about her at all. For a princess, she definitely doesn’t act like it. “So your highness, what brings you to our garage?” Clank asked. Ratchet cringed slightly at that. He hoped he didn’t have to say that too. The princess laughed. “Please, call me Serina. That is my name after all. I hate when people call me “your highness” or “your majesty”, it just feels wrong to me.”

 _‘Wow, she is full of surprises’_ Ratchet thought. “Well, Serina, what is it that you need our assistance with?” Clank asked again. Serina’s expression softened, and she looked like she was about to cry.

“I think… I think that someone is pretending to be my mum, and that the real one has been kidnapped.” Ratchet wasn’t expecting that.  

“What gives you the impression that your mum isn’t the real deal?” He asked. If he was going to help, he needed more info. “Well, a couple of days ago, my mum went out to tend to some things. When she came back, she was like a different person. She wouldn’t let me step one foot outside the palace, not to mention she was acting horrible towards me.”

“I’m guessing she doesn’t usually do that huh?”

“You guessed right. I know it sounds crazy, but I know for a fact that the person who is in Meridian City right now, isn’t my mother.” Serina suddenly fell to her knees, her blue dress fanning out around her, a miserable look on her face. Ratchet’s ears drooped down slightly, feeling the sad vibes radiate off of her like some sort of radio that was sending out a signal. Ratchet didn’t know why, but he didn’t want Serina to feel this way, he wanted to see her smile. He kneeled down so that he was eye level with her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, we will get to the bottom of this. We’re here to help, right pal?” He said, as he turned his head to look back at Clank, who nodded in agreement. He turned back to Serina again. “Do you have any idea on who could be pretending to be your mum?” Ratchet asked.

“Yes I do, and I think you do as well” Serina replied, giving Ratchet and Clank the same serious look. Ratchet thought for a moment. He thought of every villain he had faced over the years, and there was only one that could have done something like this.

“Nefarious” Ratchet, Clank and Serina said in union. There were a few seconds of silence while the three of them exchanged awkward glances. Serina broke the tension by laughing out loud. It wasn’t a forced one either, she genuinely thought that what just happened was funny. “Well, that was a bit weird huh? I guess great minds think alike” She said, smiling brightly. Ratchet and Clank laughed too.

“Sure was. Well, at least we all agree that Dr Nefarious is the only person who is capable of pulling off a stunt like this. But why would he pretend be your mum? What would he have to gain?” Ratchet questioned, confused on why he would disguise himself as a lady (which Ratchet found really funny), and try to keep Serina from leaving. Serina shook her head. “I have no idea. But I think our best option is to go to Meridian City and confront Dr Nefarious. Of course, three people isn’t really enough to stop the likes of him. We are going to need some back up” She said, and she stood up, brushing unwanted dirt off of her dress. “Back up huh? Who do you have in mind?” Ratchet asked, and Serina smirked. He had a bad feeling about this. “Oh, you know him quite well, and I think he is our best option.”

As soon as she said that, Ratchet instantly knew who she was talking about. His ears lowered, and he tried his very best not to groan in annoyance. Of course, Clank was oblivious to what Serina meant. “Really? So who is this person that you think could help us?”

“That is a _very_ good question Clank!” Serina said, her smirk still present on her face.

 _‘Please don’t say it…’_ Ratchet thought, praying for anything that would change her mind.

“It is no other than…” She paused, obviously teasing Ratchet.

 _‘She’s gonna say it!’_ His brain was screaming at him, telling him to stop her and suggest someone else, but no words came out. He braced for impact.

“Captain Copernicus Qwark!” Serina announced, emphasising her voice so that Ratchet could hear them loud and clear.

“She said it…” He mumbled to himself.

 

This was _not_ going to end well…


End file.
